GENE SIMMONS says he BEGGED SCOTT WEILAND to GET CLEAN before his DEATH.

When KISS embarked on their “Alive/Worldwide” reunion tour in 1996, they called up one of the biggest bands at the time to open for them: Stone Temple Pilots. Due to unfortunate circumstances, however, STP had to back out of the tour.

In a new interview on Billy Corgan’s podcast “The Magnificent Others,” KISS bassist Gene Simmons explained the sad reason why the Scott Weiland fronted band backed out of the tour, and the dire warning he issued the singer.

“Sad story: it was going to be Stone Temple Pilots,” Simmons recalled. “And [Scott] Weiland and I had a discussion, and I said, ‘This is your chance. It’s going to be a lot of media.’ The thing sold out in 40 minutes. ‘You guys open up, but I want you to be straight. You gotta promise me.’ ‘Gene, I promise,’ like all addicts. Then he died.”

While Weiland didn’t pass away until nearly two decades later in December 2015 from a drug overdose, STP failed to fulfill their tour obligations with KISS when he had to attend court-ordered rehab.